TrainersBookPersonal training client onboarding template: the first 14 days
A new client has just said yes. The next two weeks decide whether training becomes part of their week or stays a good intention. Here is a day-by-day checklist, the questions for the consultation, a plan for the first session and four messages you can copy.
Why the first 14 days matter
In the first two weeks a client learns what working with you is like. When you answer. What a normal week looks like. Whether the plan fits their life or fights it. The habits that start here tend to stay, and so do the gaps. A client who misses a session in week one and hears nothing learns that missing is fine.
Good onboarding comes down to three things:
- A clear start. The client always knows what happens next and when.
- An early win. Something they can feel or see in the first week, not in month three.
- A rhythm they know. Fixed days for sessions, check-ins and program changes, told to them on day one.
The 14-day checklist
Move the days to fit your schedule. What matters is that every step happens, and in this order.
| When | What you do, and why |
|---|---|
| Day 0, the yes | Send the welcome message with the date of the consultation and what to bring. Add the client to your system the same day. The client knows what happens next while the decision is fresh. |
| Before the consultation | Send the health questionnaire your certification body, insurer or gym requires. You have the answers in writing before the client trains. |
| Day 1 to 3 | Consultation: goal, history, week, food and how you will work together. Agree on the rhythm. Everything after builds on it. |
| Day 3 to 4 | First session. Teach the main movements, take two or three baseline numbers, end with something they do well. The early win, and numbers to compare with in four weeks. |
| Same evening | Send the program and the after-session message. The client leaves with a plan, not just a sore body. |
| Day 5 to 6 | The client trains alone, or you meet again. A short message the day after: how did it feel? Problems come up while they are small. |
| Day 7 | First check-in. Read the answers and change one thing, even a small one. The client sees that their answers matter. |
| Day 8 to 13 | Normal rhythm. Look at who has logged and who has not. A quiet client in week two is easy to bring back. |
| Day 14 | Two-week review: what has changed, what was hard, what the next goal is. Turns a trial into a habit, and shows progress early. |
Questions for the consultation
Plan 45 to 60 minutes. Let the client talk more than you. You do not need every question, but you need an answer in every group.
The goal
- What do you want to be different six months from now?
- Why now? What made you get in touch this month?
- How will you know it is working, before the scale or the mirror shows it?
History
- What training have you done before, and what did you like about it?
- What made you stop last time?
- Have you worked with a trainer before? What did they do that you liked, and what did you not like?
The week
- Which days and times can you really train, in a normal week and in a busy one?
- How many minutes do you have per session, from door to door?
- Where will you train: a gym, at home or outdoors? What equipment is there?
- What does your job look like, and how much do you move in a normal day?
- How do you sleep, and how stressful is life right now?
Food
- What does a normal day of eating look like, from morning to evening?
- Is there anything you want to change, or anything you do not want to change?
Working together
- How do you want to be contacted, and how often?
- Do you want me to push you when you go quiet, or give you space?
- What would make you say, in two weeks, that this was a good decision?
The question that tells you the most is "What made you stop last time?" The answer is usually what will try to stop them again. Plan for it now: shorter sessions for the busy weeks, a home version for the travel weeks, a message from you when they go quiet.
These questions are about the training. They do not replace the health questionnaire your certification body, insurer or gym requires.
The first session
The goal of the first session is that the client comes back. Not a test of how much they can take. Here is one way to use 60 minutes:
| Part | Minutes | What |
|---|---|---|
| Talk | 5 | How they feel today, and the plan for the session |
| Warm-up | 10 | The same warm-up they will use when they train alone |
| Teach | 25 | Three or four main movements from their program, with light weights. Focus on how it should feel, not on how heavy it is |
| Baseline | 10 | Two or three numbers you can repeat in four weeks. For example the weight for eight good reps on a main lift and a timed walk or row. Body weight and waist only if the client wants |
| Finish | 10 | Something they do well, so the session ends on a win. Show them the program and agree when you will hear from each other next |
Leave out maximal tests and exhausting finishers. A client who cannot walk down the stairs the next day remembers that, not the coaching. Write down how each baseline felt as well as the number. In four weeks, "eight reps that felt hard" becoming "ten that felt easy" is the progress they will notice. Client progress tracking covers what to measure after that.
Four messages to copy
Change the words to sound like you. The structure is what does the work.
1. Welcome, the day they say yes
Hi [name], welcome! I am really glad you want to get started. Our consultation is on [day] at [time], at [place or video link]. It takes about an hour and is mostly you talking: what you want, what has worked before and what your week looks like. Bring [comfortable clothes / nothing]. Before then, please fill in the health form I am sending you. See you [day]!
2. After the first session
Great first session today, [name]! Your [squat] already looked solid by the last set. Your program is in the app now. Train it on [days], and log what you lift so I can follow along. Some soreness tomorrow and the day after is normal. I will check in on [day]. Questions before then? Just send them.
3. The first check-in, day 7
One week done, [name]! Five quick questions: 1. How many sessions did you get in? 2. How did your energy feel, 1 to 10? 3. Was anything harder than expected? 4. Did anything get in the way? 5. One thing you are proud of this week?
4. The two-week review, day 14
Two weeks in, [name]. Here is what I see: [sessions done], [one number that moved], [one thing that looks better]. What has felt good, and what has been hard? Next we aim for [next small goal]. Same rhythm as now, with [one change].
More check-in questions, including ones for clients who go quiet, are in client check-in questions.
Onboarding in TrainersBook
The checklist works with any tools. Here is how the same steps look in TrainersBook, where the client has their own app and you have yours.
- Add the client with name and email. They get an email invitation with a code and choose their own password. You never see it. Coaching someone in person who does not want an app? Add them with No Account and keep their sessions and notes in the same place as everyone else's.
- The client opens the app for the first time, chooses a username, the language for the AI coach and their privacy choices, and sees what they can do: follow workouts, log meals, chat with you and track progress.
- Record the consultation and apply the summary to the client.
- Ask FitAI for the first program. Before it saves a program it needs six details: goal, experience, equipment, days per week, minutes per session and what the training must take into account. It asks for what is missing. What it learns shows on the client's page under Saved by the AI trainer.
- Set the weekly check-in from the client's chat, with the day and time.
- Watch the first weeks. Performance on My Clients sorts clients by how often they train, with those under two sessions a week under Needs Attention.
Common questions
What should personal training client onboarding include?
A welcome message, the health questionnaire your certification body, insurer or gym requires, a consultation, a first session with a few baseline numbers, a program the client can follow alone, a first check-in after one week and a review after two weeks.
What questions should I ask in a personal training consultation?
Ask about the goal and why now, earlier training and what made them stop, which days and minutes they really have, where they train and with what, their job, sleep and stress, a normal day of eating, and how they want you to work together.
What should I do in the first session with a new client?
Teach three or four main movements with light weights, take two or three baseline numbers you can repeat in four weeks, and end with something the client does well. Leave out maximal tests and exhausting finishers.
When should the first check-in be?
After the first week, then on the same day every week. The first one matters most: answer it properly and change one thing based on what the client says.
How do I onboard an online client?
Use the same steps. Hold the consultation on a video call, replace the first session with a short video walkthrough of the main movements, and ask the client to film one set of each so you can give feedback in the first week.